Rock Island

Rock Island, city, seat (1833) of Rock Island county, northwestern Illinois, U.S. It lies on the Mississippi River (bridged to Iowa) at the mouth of the Rock River and opposite the island for which it was named. With Moline and East Moline, Illinois, and Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa, Rock Island forms the Quad Cities complex. Sauk and Fox Indians inhabited the area at the time of the first American settlement. Fort Armstrong was built on the island in 1816 and was the headquarters of operations in the Black Hawk War (1832), in which Chief Black Hawk and his people were forced out ... (100 of 281 words)